Euronews held an EU Enlargement Summit in Brussels on Tuesday, hosting policymakers and political leaders from candidate countries to discuss how the next phase of the European Union’s enlargement can be imagined.
Euronews owner and chairman Pedro Vargas David argued in favour of the rapid enlargement of the European Union at the Euronews Enlargement Summit on Tuesday, as it welcomed policymakers, political leaders, experts and business representatives to Brussels.
“Let us in as fast as you can, we will show you once inside, we are worthy members of the EU,” he said, voicing the demand of many candidate countries to the EU including Albania, Georgia, Serbia and Ukraine.
As more nations than ever want to join the bloc, candidate countries have divided support within their population. Albania is leading with 92% of its people supporting EU accession, while Turkey and Serbia have the lowest support from their people to join the EU, respectively 46% and 31%.
Beyond Europe’s borders, he also praised Armenia’s and Georgia’s candidacy as their “populations are European by culture and tradition.”
David wondered if for some candidates the above numbers were “too low”, pointing out responsibilities: “Are we doing all we can to counter the narratives of our opponents? […] Are our EU ambassadors in the candidate countries not too many times seen as the spokespeople of everything that is wrong and not the promoters of the good cases?”
The ‘Gibraltar model’ of accession for the Western Balkans
Pedro Vargas David declared his support for a “Gibraltar model for a swift application of Schengen” for Western Balkan nations, referring to the idea of allowing a fast-tracked membership status with “potential changes to the rights and obligations” of member states, such as veto limitations, voting powers and access to certain programmes.
He called for a debate to take place on the issue, “in particular in the Council and also in the Parliament.
David underlined how recent elections were carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia as arguments in favour of this: “democratic elections, perfect, surely not, but no one doubts that the result reflected the will of the people.”
He then expressed his support for a rapid enlargement of the EU: “We can either step up our game and move fast, or continue to be tangled in our old positions. We have a historical opportunity, but make no mistake, if we miss it, others will not.”
EU citizens support enlargement by a narrow majority
Almost 53% of European Union citizens support enlargement, with divided endorsements among EU countries. In Sweden, 79% of people support it, while France staggers at a low 35%.
David sees a solution to raise support for enlargement: “More than 2/3 of Europeans say they don’t know enough and want to be more informed. These Europeans are ready to change their views if they get the right information. And that is the responsibility of political leaders, but also the responsibility of the media. The responsibility of Euronews.”
He also called for the UK to rejoin the EU: “In next year’s summit, let’s make sure we have the United Kingdom back at the table. I said a month ago, if GB News was Brexit TV, let Euronews be the Rejoin TV. Mistakes can always be made, but they can also be corrected. We, as Europeans, are poorer and weaker without the UK, and so is the UK without Europe.”
Some 60% of British people want to rejoin the EU, “bring that Union Jack back to Brussels ASAP,” he urged.
Source: www.euronews.com
